Fast charging (by solar and wind) rolls out in The Hague, Netherlands

Billions of euros are being invested into Europe’s EV market. Most of the industry’s best known vehicles are available. The race to build the infrastructure, which can help make them the vehicle of choice, lags behind. Ford, Volkswagen Group, BMW Group, and Daimlerare entering into the race with joint plans to develop 400 sites by 2020. However, Fastned has already built 55 stations throughout the Netherlands and, on December 1, announced the opening of Europe’s 1st “Urban Fast Charging Station” in The Hague, Holland.

Europe’s 1st Urban Fast Charging Station In The Hague

A company spokesperson explained: “There are urban fast chargers in cities, but there were no fast charging stations (with several chargers and a visible roof) like the station Fastned has built and opened.”

The new station is the first of 5 planned for The Hague and located beside the Royal Palace “Huis ten Bosch.”

Station ten Bosch

According to the subsequent press release, “Station ten Bosch” was opened by Alderman Tom de Bruijn and Fastned co-founder Bart Lubbers.

Bart Lubbers, co-founder of Fastned: “Urban stations make our network complete. People want to charge their car wherever their battery runs empty and this can happen along the highway as well as in cities. In addition, the majority of Dutch households don’t have their own driveway where they can charge. These people also want to drive electric and now they can do so by charging their car at Fastned for the same price as at home: 19 cents per kWh. This type of infrastructure makes driving electric accessible to everyone in The Netherlands. The city of Hague understands this very well and are leading this transition.”

Tom de Bruijn, Alderman of Finance, Traffic, Transport and Environment of the Municipality of The Hague: “More and more people are switching to an electric car. A positive development The Hague wants to encourages as much as possible, because electric cars are clean and cheap to operate. With the increasing number of electric cars the need for qualitative charging infrastructure increases as well. Rolling out a network of fast-charging stations in the city is a great asset to our city. I hope that we can be an example for other municipalities.”

Powered By The Sun & Wind

As you can see in the press photos, the station’s roof is composed of solar panels. Fastned obtains all of its electricity from the sun and wind.

It plans to complete all 5 of The Hague’s fast charging stations during the next few months, by which time they could be announcing more stations in other cities.